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Warwickshire Observatory is the home for information and intelligence about Warwickshire and its people. We provide a centre of excellence in research, data collection and analysis, supporting evidence-based policy-making across the public sector in Warwickshire.

Today sees the first release by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of data from the 2011 Census. Information from the 2011 Census is being released in four stages and this first release contains data relating to population and household estimates down to local authority level.

Please note that some figures in this post have been revised following advice from ONS. This includes a revised total for Warwickshire’s 2011 Census population. Data in the briefing note has also been revised accordingly.

An early look at the data for Warwickshire reveals that

Warwickshire’s population now stands at 545,500. This is an increase of 7.8% since 2001. This is roughly in line with the increase nationally which was 7.1%

Warwickshire now has around 20,000 more households than it did in 2001

Population growth has not been uniform across the county. Population growth in North Warwickshire has been lowest at 0.3% while Rugby and Warwick have seen increases of 14.4% and 9.1% respectively. Stratford-on-Avon has experienced population growth broadly in line of that for Warwickshire as a whole while Nuneaton & Bedworth’s population grew below this rate at 5.1%

The population of those aged 65+ has risen to 99,400, an increase of just more than 20% since 2001. The population aged 65+ now makes up just over 18% of the total population compared with around just over 16% in 2001, pointing to Warwickshire’s growing and ageing population.

The response rate for the 2011 Census in Warwickshire was 96% which exceeded the Government’s national and local government targets.

The second release of data is planned for November 2012. This release will provide data at much smaller geographical areas and will give more detailed characteristics about households in Warwickshire. It is expected there will be considerable interest in this release by many groups within the county council and partner organisations.

The Observatory will be consulting with potential users of the data shortly to ensure we are delivering the sort of analysis required by users. Any early comments on this are welcomed to the Observatory’s email: research@warwickshire.gov.uk. The Observatory will produce a local prospectus of our plans for the more detailed 2011 Census data later this year.

I don’t think there were necessarily any huge surprises; we’ve been monitoring population growth on an annual basis since the last Census anyway so we had an idea what it would tell us. The more useful figures, particularly in terms of service planning, will come in the second release of data later this year. This will contain much more detailed information in terms of economic activity, caring responsibilities, household structure and other population characteristics, all at the very local level. As we’ve mentioned in the main article, we’re keen to make sure we produce the right type of material for decision makers and we will be in touch to get your views on this. Watch this space!

There is an error in the population pyramid, with the 14-19 year age group appearing twice, once where it should, and second where the 45-49 year age group should appear. Is it a labelling error or something else?

Hi Mark. Are you referring to the second pyramid in the briefing note, comparing Warwickshire’s 2011 population with 2001? I can see what you mean, but I think it is just an issue with the resolution of the graphic; the label is in fact 45-49 rather than 15-19 but the clarity of the text isn’t great. We’ll look at improving the resolution of the chart and updating it. Thanks for the feedback.

Update: hopefully the clarity of the graph is a little better now – please let us know if there are still problems.

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